Wheelchair access in the news again
Qantas has been brought into the furore over airlines’ policies on wheelchairs by Champion Paralympian Louise Suavage today.
Speaking to the SMH, Sauvage has attacked Qantas for restricting the number of wheelchairs that may be taken on any one flight and for discriminating against people with disabilities.
“I am very disappointed [Qantas] have taken this line,” said Sauvage.
She told the Herald yesterday that before the Sydney Olympics in 2000 she was happy to promote the airline in return for sponsorship, including free flights.
“I don’t want to bag them because of that, because I was very grateful. But now I am one of the people suffering from it … I think it is discriminatory.”
Sauvage said she had recently become aware of tighter rules on the disabled and longer waits before disembarking, while their wheelchairs were unloaded and taken to the gate.
Qantas said yesterday the restriction applied only to smaller aircraft such as Boeing 737s because of potential stowage safety hazards during the flight. The airline also said it had reduced the number of staff available to help disabled passengers outside peak hours at Sydney Airport.
Qantas’s general manager of associated businesses, Grant Fenn, said yesterday: “We do everything possible to provide travel opportunities to suit customers travelling with mobility aids.”
But Sauvage and Nunnari said the decline in services for wheelchair users had become more marked recently.
Seems like a public relations exercise that both Qantas and Virgin Blue would do well to clear up once and for all.
Graham Muldoon
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